It's never over
by si-te-hace-feliz
Summary: When someone comes back into Sara's life she has to face things she thought she'd buried a long time ago. She needs the support of the people that love her, but will her stubborn self let them closer? And how will she deal with the resurfacing of things long suppressed? Set beginning season 13.
1. Chapter 1

_Ok, so starting to publish my second fic. This is something I've wanted to publish for ages but never got around to it. It is a Sara centric story, with a bit of GSR, but that's not the main focus...yet! Anyway, hope you enjoy it and constructive criticism is very welcome!  
Of course I own none of the characters except some minors and a few to come in a couple chapters time. _

"Sara?" Nick poked his head into the locker room and shouted, almost deafening her, he smiled, "sorry! You've got a call in reception."

She stood up and put her jacket on, "do you know who it is?"

"No, but they sounded…old," he shrugged and went on his way.

She picked up her cell from the top shelf of her locker and began to walk through the corridors of the lab. Today had not been a good day in the world of Sara Sidle. She'd been called out to a 419 on a farm, only to get there and find that someone had dumped a body into a vat of cow manure. Decomposing flesh plus the waste from 200 cows was not a smell easily discarded. It hadn't gone for the rest of the shift either. After showering in lemons for an hour, they'd not been able to identify the body, there were not teeth left in its skull, no DNA and absolutely no evidence that could help them. They couldn't even determine if it was male or female because half of the pelvis was missing and the remaining half had been smashed up. And to top it off she'd burst a tyre on the drive between the scene and the lab. She was not in the mood to deal with people, in any way.

She was handed the phone by Judy, the receptionist, and sat down on the bench to take the call, "Sara Sidle speaking."

There was a sound of heavy breathing down the line, she was just about to hang up when the person spoke.

"Sara, I thought, you, would, have-," he stopped and coughed, the person sounded ancient or very sick.

"Who is this?" Sara questioned suspiciously. Her right eyebrow frowning in confusion.

He continued his previous sentence, "I, thought, you, would, have, changed, your, name."

"Who is this talking please, otherwise I will hang up," she said not changing her tone, but the worry showed in her face.

"Just, wanted, to hear your, voice. Good, bye," he coughed and hung up.

Sara handed the phone back to Judy and went to find Nick. He was underneath a car in the garage, "Nick," she said sternly.

"Was it you who answered the phone?"

"Yes, Judy went to the bathroom," he slid out and looked up at her, "everything ok?"

She shook her head, "yes, I suppose, I didn't even know…he…nothing. I'm fine."

He knew better than to ask if she was ok again. Once she'd said she was fine that meant it was the end of the discussion.

She left the room and sat down in the break room. The voice at the end of the phone had shaken her. It couldn't be who she thought it was. But it still made her feel sick. That voice wouldn't leave her. It had never left her. But it was impossible.


	2. Chapter 2

_So if you read the first chapter and are still here then I love you with all of my heart! please review and let me know what you think :) _

Over the next few days Sara thought about the phone call more. But a couple of weeks passed and the thought lingered more like the morning taste of beer after a nights drinking, rather than the offensive taste of vomit which she'd experienced initially. Work was busy, and her relationship with Gil was becoming more strained, but they were both holding on to something. She needed that something. So did he; even if he didn't admit it.

One evening she was off work and sitting on her couch reading an old forensic journal. The pages of this particular episode were crinkled and bent; evidence of its heavy usage. It was the edition from when she'd first met Gil. At a Forensic Academy conference in San Francisco. She'd been in his lecture and afterwards they'd had coffee. She'd been reading the edition while waiting for him to arrive at the small café and when he appeared before her she'd felt nothing short of awe. They discussed the journal and then the conversation drifted. But that edition had always held something for Sara. It felt familiar and safe, even if the cases featured and the science detailed were long forgotten. She was wearing one of his shirts as well. The smell of him lingered on it and comforted her when he was away, which was far too often. Thinking about these things she put down the journal and went to her laptop. Turning it on and loading Skype, she pulled her knees up to her chest and shoved her hair into a loose bun. He didn't pick up the first time the video call message was sent, nor the second, or third. She was just about to give up when he answered. He was shirtless and his curly hair was flat on one side where he'd been sleeping on it.

"Hey," she said, smiling slightly at his lopsided eyebrows as his eyes adjusted to the light.

"Sara," he yawned and pulled the laptop onto his bed so he could lie there talking to her.

"Sorry if I woke you," she took a sip of her water.

"No," he smiled, "I'm glad you did, is that my shirt?"

She looked down, "yes, it smells like you."

"Do you want to know what I have under my pillow?"

"Ok," she watched him pull out one of her vest tops, a green one she'd been looking for weeks to find, "you know I've been looking for that?"

He smiled and nodded, "sorry, it smells like you."

She smiled but then sighed, "Gil, we…we need…I miss you."

"I know," he softly commented, "I miss you too, I'll be home in a couple of weeks though."

"A couple of weeks too many," she smiled and then turned her head toward the door as she heard someone knock.

"If that's the door then I'll go," he said sadly.

"You will stay exactly where you are Gilbert Grissom," she winked at him and went to the door. There was a no one around and a note left on the doorstep with her name on the front of the folded piece of paper. She sat back down at the laptop and unfolded the paper.

"What is it honey?"

"It's….," she read the paper and her expression changed, "This is sick. Why the hell would someone be sending me this? And how the hell would they know about my life?"

"Sara, what does it say?" he sat up in bed and readjusted the laptop.

She re-read the note, "My darling Sara, I have missed you all of these years, you know that don't you? I don't have much time here, from your father," she gasped as she read it out loud, "My father died years ago Gil, why would someone send me this?"

"Sara, call Brass and get Nick to process the note," Gil said concerned, "you need to call this in. Have you noticed anything strange around the house lately?"

She composed herself, "yes…well someone called me at work the other day, they didn't say who it was, it sounded like someone putting on my father's voice, it creeped me out but I thought I must have been imagining it."

She got up and got her cell phone and hand gun.

"Where did you go?" Gil asked as she sat down.

She held up the 2 items and called Brass, "hey, Jim, I have a favour to ask, someone just put a note on my doorstep and its…it's a bit weird, is Nick with you?"

"Yes, we're on the way back from a scene, we'll drop by," he said concerned.

Sara sat there for a while, Gil said he'd stay on the video until they got there. They spoke about a few other things, he tried to distract her, but once Sara's mind was on something it didn't like to leave. Brass and Nick knocked on the door, she answered with her gun ready and sighed when they came in. Nick pointed to the video, "hey Griss!"

Gil quickly pulled up the sheets to cover his bare chest, "Hi...Nick, Brass. Sara, I've got to go now if you're ok?"

"Yes, I'll speak to you tomorrow,"

"I love you honey," he said shyly in front of the other two men.

"I love you too," she smiled and shut the laptop.

Nick and Brass just grinned like idiots, "So," Brass said, "what happened?"

Sara explained the note, and the phone call. It made her sound crazy and she was aware of that. But she told them the truth. Someone had been impersonating her father and she didn't know how they'd got their information, or why on earth they'd want to do such a thing. Nick asked her if she wanted to come to the lab for a bit, but she said she felt safe. Another classic example of Sara being stubborn. They took the note, nothing came up, and they asked Sara to report anything unusual. But nothing else happened.

A few days later she was at work, her and Nick had a 419. A male D.B. suspected of an O.D.

They arrived together in Nick's car and went into the rough looking house. It was on the outskirts of Henderson and didn't fit in with the other accommodation on the road. The trees were overgrown and the paint was chipping.

There were officers inside and David Phillips pushed past them to get to the body in the living room, apologising for his lateness as usual. Sara smiled, he seemed to be in a chirpy mood lately, and he was looking forward to becoming a dad.

Sara stepped around the couch to look at the body. Nausea and gasping for air were all she could feel as she laid eyes upon it. She ran from the room and out of the house to where the trucks were parked. She leant against the fence with her arm supporting her and threw up. She kept gagging and Nick ran to find her. She couldn't talk, just stood there trying to breathe as he handed her some water.

"You ok?" Nick said after she took a sip of some of the water.

"I can't work this Nick, I can't," she shook her head and spoke with desperation.

"Ok, ok," he sighed, "did you know the victim?"

She just stared at him, "yes. I did."


	3. Chapter 3

"Sara, you need to tell me who it is," Nick grabbed her as she started to walk away. She turned back and had tears in her eyes. This was not usual for her at all, and Nick was becoming more and more concerned.

"No, Nick," she walked off down the road and he let her go. Watching her back he took out his phone to call D.B. but decided against it. He would wait for a while and then see if she came back. No reason to get anyone worried just yet, maybe Sara just needed some space. Shaking his head he returned to the scene. David didn't question the situation.

Nick started to process the scene as David took the body. Pictures, samples, a stack of letters…one to Sara. It was just a folded piece of paper. No in an envelope or finished. He began to read it. He didn't want to invade her privacy but the more he thought about the situation, he had no idea what was going on, she wouldn't respond to his phone calls.

"_Dear Sara, I've been here the whole time and you never knew. None of you could know or they would have taken me away. They took you away, I know that, but I'd have been locked up. What happened in that house that night, with Laura, your brother Alex, and your uncle James, it was all so long ago._ _That night I made decisions that were wrong, I made decisions that were wrong for all of us…." _

Nick stopped reading. His decision to start not felt wrong and he put the letter in an evidence bag. A few hours later when he'd finished processing he called Sara. He sat in his truck and waited for her to pick up.

-Sara kept walking and walking. If she stopped then she would have to face the reality of the situation. She was going insane. _It can't be him. I buried that part of me so long ago. It's not him. He's dead. He is dead. _

She told herself over and over again. She couldn't win. Either she was crazy or they'd all been wrong, for all of these years. That part of her didn't exist anymore, but so easily it could be brought back up. That was something Sara never wanted to happen. It would hurt her, the people she loved. That was not fair.

The air she breathed didn't want to leave her chest and the streets surrounding her span like the world had changed pace without notifying her. Her hands shook as she clenched her fists trying to contain her emotions. She's dealt with victims, she dealt with victims every day. And Sara Grissom was not a victim. She'd tried her entire life to not be a victim. The labels stuck with her though, abusive house, father killed, mother unstable, kid in care. Those labels opened you up to pity.

Her phone rang. She picked up.

"Sara, thank god," Nicks voice was breathless, "are you ok?"

"Yes,"

"Where are you? Do you need a lift?"

"I'm….," she looked around, not realising how far she'd walked, "I'm about 4 miles away, on East Hamilton street, up by that Chinese restaurant Brass likes."

"Ok," he replied and began to drive.

When he got to her she was sitting on a bench, looking at the ground and picking at her nails. She looked up as he pulled the car near to her. Getting in the car Nick handed her her jacket which she'd left at the crime scene.

He didn't want to push her for an answer, but the CSI inside of him persisted, "Sara, who was it?"

"The thing is Nick, you're going to call me crazy,"

"I promise you I won't,"

"Well I'm either crazy or something very wrong happened a long time ago," she sighed and rolled down her window.

Nick thought carefully about how to proceed, "Sara, you're not going crazy, just tell me who you think it is, we can deal with it from there on, but if you don't tell me I can't help you."

She inhaled deeply, "I think that was my father."


	4. Chapter 4

Nick didn't know what to say. His head went straight to _ok, I need to call Grissom, and she's not ok. It must be the weird phone call and note, or something's seriously wrong. _But he didn't say this out loud. He just kept driving and they pulled up outside the lab eventually. They sat there for a moment. As if by sitting there the world would pass them by, and neither would have to deal with what would inevitably be an extremely difficult conversation. A few more minutes went by.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Sara said, staring straight ahead.

"I don't want to say the wrong thing Sar'," he grabbed her hand.

"Well say something, anything, because it's all a bit messed up in my head right now, say the wrong thing if you really want to, just say something," she squeezed his hand back.

"I think you, or I, should call Grissom," he said seriously. He waited for her reply but he wasn't granted one.

They got out of the car and walked inside the building. They went to their shared office and Sara sat at her desk.

Nick went and told Russell what had been going on. He was considerate and concerned. Nick called Grissom and said what had happened; he booked a flight to come home.

Nick went into the office and shut the door.

"I called Grissom," Nick said quietly prepared to take an angry reaction. She didn't reply, she sat there and nodded.

He sat at his own desk and sighed.

"Will you do a DNA test?" Sara asked.

"Y…yes Sara, if you would like us to," he smiled sadly, not knowing himself whether it was out of pity.

She nodded and took out her phone, "well, I should…I should go, I'll meet Gil at the airport and we haven't really got any food at home, so I-."

"-Stop," Nick cut in, "Sara, I'm sorry, his flight gets in 3 hours from now, you can either stay here, or I can take you home, I don't want you to be alone."

She didn't look at him still. Her chest rose up and down as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. Nick let her sit there for a while and got on with some paperwork. After an hour Sara hadn't realised how long she'd been sitting there. She got up and left to go to the bathroom. Nick nearly called after her but she'd left her cell and keys on the desk. She'd be coming back. She didn't though. He went to look for her and found her sitting outside on a low wall, smoking a roll up.

"Since when do you smoke? I haven't seen you do that for about a decade," he sat next to her.

"Christ I've been here a long time," she flicked off the end and took a drag, "About once a month, more if I can't sleep well, none when Gil's home,"

They spoke for a while about Gil being gone. She opened up a bit which came as a surprise to Nick, but she was feeling particularly vulnerable so maybe sharing this wasn't talking about the current situation. After that they returned inside. Sara still sat there watching the clock, and didn't realise that she'd nodded off with her head on folded arms atop her desk. Nick watched her sleeping. She would awake with a stiff neck but he thought it best to leave her. He came and went from the office, kept going to the DNA lab to see if they'd processed the DB's. If they had, it would be easier to explain to Sara that maybe she needed some help. He kept the door shut though, to his office. She woke up after a while and went to the break room to get a drink and ran into Greg.

"Hey!" he said happily, "Nick wouldn't let anyone talk to you, you ok?"

She nodded politely and got some water, then sat down.

"I hear Dr Grissom is coming to get you?"

"Is he?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Nick said he was?" Greg collected his files and went to the door

"Well he seems to be in charge of me today so that's probably true," she sipped her water and watched him leave.

He didn't make any jokes really _wow I must look rough._

By the time Grissom arrived, 4 hours after arriving at the lab, Sara was going crazy, but containing it for everyone probably already thought she was insane. He walked into the lab, politely addressing Nick and Greg while trying to avoid meeting anyone else. He wanted to find Sara. When he did they didn't even speak. He knew when she didn't want to. They hadn't seen each other in person for over a month, but an intimate greeting wasn't appropriate in this setting. He just held his arms around her for a moment and kissed her on the forehead before they went to her office and collected her belongings. The drive home was silent, as had much of the day been. But with Gil the silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, it was full and accessible.

When they got home she put away her things and took a shower. She got changed into fresh clothes and joined Gil out in the living room. They sat on the couch watching Friends re-runs and drinking coffee. Nick had promised to call Gil with the DNA results when they came in. When his phone rang at 8 in the morning Sara sat up and waited for him to answer the call. From his conversation with Nick, she couldn't gage whether the news was good or bad.

He sat down next to her and took her hand before telling her, "They tested your DNA against his. They triple checked it, and he was your father, the DB they found was your father."


	5. Chapter 5

Ok, so if you're still reading this then thank you! If you are following please just drop me a line to say what you think and maybe if there's anything you want to be included in further chapters. oh and I wasn't entirely sure on the details of some of Sara's past, so please don't be too mad at me! Some of the character bios say different things

She was standing and her hands were on her face, she was gasping and her hands were shaking. The colour had drained from her face and no air wanted to leave her lungs as she began to panic. All control she had was gone and the room started spinning. Nothing worked, she couldn't think straight and she felt like she was going to pass out. She was just shaking her head and gasping for air.

Gil stood up careful not to crowd her he stayed a few metres back from her, "Sara," he said calmly.

She just shook her head and tears were pouring down her cheeks beyond her control. When she finally took her hands away from her face and held them across her chest, each hand clutching at the opposite bicep, no words came out of her mouth.

Each breath was harder and harder and Gil tried his best to remain calm for her.

It was terrifying seeing his wife, his love and home be so lost and out of control, "Sara, take slow breaths in and out, do them with me," he tried to make his breathing look obvious and he could see her eyes following him but her breathing didn't, "Sara, why don't you sit down, I'm going to get you a glass of water, is there anything else you would like?" he tried to get a response from her but none would come.

She finally let it out, "he was gone, I saw him die, I saw my mother stab him," she was getting louder and almost screaming, "I saw my mother stab him in the chest and watched as they took his body away. I thought bastard was dead," she was getting almost hysterical by this point, "he fucked us all up and he was gone but now I find out he was alive this whole time," she was completely gone now and spit flew from her mouth as she yelled, "he was gone, I was put in care and separated from Alex, but he was alive. He fucking knew where we were. How the hell do I know what else is real? Because every part of my adult life has been based on the premise that he was dead. He made our lives hell and I was glad he was gone. I dealt with that, and now I have to see his body all over again."

She backed up to the wall and slid down it, "It's not fair. Why couldn't he just have stayed dead?" She sobbed.

He sat next to her on the floor and held her as she sobbed into his chest and got tears soaked into his shirt. With every breath she took he could feel her whole frame shake and her hands wouldn't leave their tight grasp on her arms still. They stayed there for longer than either of them realised. By the time she'd stopped crying she just lay there with her head in his lap. Gil rubbed her back and stayed silent. There was nothing he could say to help at this point. He knew as much as she did, probably less. He helped her stand and got her to the bedroom. She was so weak, she had no energy and he sat her on the bed while helping her change into an old t-shirt of his to sleep. He lifted her arms through the holes and then her legs up into the bed.

After getting changed himself he got in beside her and brought her body closer to his. She was cold and slightly shaking still, but he held her like he would never let her go. Gil wasn't aware how much that was helping Sara, he was a stable part in her life, and had seen her through so much. She fell asleep finally, Gil could tell because she released the tight grip on his t-shirt. Soon after her, he nodded off himself.

_"Sara baby, go to your room, your dad's pulling up in the driveway and he didn't get another job today," her mother spoke affectionately, but not lovingly in Sara's young eyes._

_She wasn't fast enough though. Her father burst through the door with the worst expression possible on his face. He sat down at the table and his wife, Sara's mother placed a plate of food before him. He tasted it and threw it against the wall._

_"I'm sorry b-baby I-I tried to make it right," her mother pleaded but didn't look directly at him. _

_He didn't move, he just sat there quietly talking, "I ask you to do hardly anything Laura, what do I ask you to do? Hardly anything. And I come home from a day out looking for work and all you had to do was make me dinner, you had to make one plate of food for me, and that was too much to ask. What did you do all day? You did nothing, and I was working hard all day. And why is Sara here? She should be upstairs. I don't want her near me."_

_Sara turned to leave but her father grabbed her 9 year old arm and twisted it. She didn't reply, just stood there and took it as the tears poured down her face. She'd long since learnt that fighting back wouldn't work. He smiled and pulled her to him. He kissed her forehead and let her go. _

"Sara, Sara," Gil shook her shoulder and tried to wake her, "Sara honey,"

She opened her eyes and grabbed his chest.

"You were shouting in your sleep," he held her again, "do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head but answered anyway, "I haven't dreamt about my family in years, why did this have to come back to me, I dealt with this."

Over the next few days Sara didn't go into work. She barely spoke but Gil made sure she did tell him how she was feeling. She tended to internalise everything. They ate, watched movies, and went for walks, anything to keep occupied. Sara had explicitly said she wanted to be a part of the investigation, but she couldn't sleep properly, nothing seemed to work. So she stayed away.

Then one of the days Nick called by the house and said that they wanted her to come and answer a few questions, they'd been in contact with the Detectives in Tamales Bay. He said that he would be the one interviewing her, but if she wanted a stranger then that was fine.

She nodded and said she would come over in an hour.

She got dressed and ready, had some dinner and went with Gil to the lab. He'd insisted on accompanying her.

When she got there, she sat in a soft interview room with Nick and a detective she'd not met before.

"Hi Sara, this is Detective Mason from San Francisco,"

They exchanged hellos.

"Ok, so we've confirmed that the DB was your Father, Henry Sidle, and we've been reinvestigating the murder that occurred before," Detective Mason spoke, she was stern and reminded Sara of Sofia a little, "we exhumed the body that was thought to be your father's previously. He was a familial match to your father, we believe it was a brother of his, and Henry had been living under his name,"

"James," Sara said quietly.

"Yes," Nick nodded, "We're going to ask you to tell us everything you remember from that night. Sara, if you don't want to talk, you can just walk out, you don't have to tell us, and if there is someone you'd rather talk to then you can just say."

Sara smiled slightly at him, he was always so kind, "no its ok Nick, and I need to help in any way possible, I need to find out what happened."

"Ok," Detective Mason took out a notepad, "start at the beginning of the evening."


	6. Chapter 6

"Ok," she settled into the chair as much as she could, "well you probably need a bit of context I suppose. I'm guessing you read all of the police files, so stop me if I'm telling you something you know. My parents ran a b+b until I was 7 and the business went under. It wasn't a predictable household."

"Unstable?" the Detective probed.

"Yes, unstable is a fairly accurate description," she nodded but didn't change her facial expression, "my father was volatile, you couldn't stop him once he was gone. My mother was unpredictable, one day she would take the hits and let him do almost anything to her, the next she would be screaming back at him. When she was like that they were fairly evenly matched. My brother Alex was 7 years older than me, and most of the time wasn't at home. He would sneak in and out through my bedroom window."

All of her description were factual, as if she were reading them from her memory, not recalling them.

"Why yours?" Sara already decided that she didn't like this detective now.

"It had a drain pipe outside," she sternly replied, "anyway, he spent more and more time away from home, sometimes he wouldn't come back for days. He smoked too much weed, that's all I really knew. So, this one night, I was eating dinner with my mum, I was 9, and Alex 16; he'd been out of the house for 2 days now. It was about 7 at night when my dad came through the front door. Usually my mum would try to get me up in my room before he got home but tonight he was early. He'd been looking for work. And on the days when he had a bad interview nothing could stop him. He sat down at the table and my mum gave him a plate of food. He took one bite and then threw it against the wall. He started shouting saying _I don't ask hardly anything of you, you do nothing all day. What do I ask of you? _And other things like that. Then he asked why I wasn't upstairs. I went to leave but he grabbed my arm and twisted it. If I cried he would hurt me more so I let him do it. He smiled kissed me on the forehead and let go of my arm. I ran upstairs to my room. I heard the usual shouting and plate smashing.

The local department store didn't know what to think about the amounts of plates and mugs we bought. We probably kept them in business.

So they kept fighting and fighting. Every so often I would hear the front door open and close. Then a few minutes later it would do the same. I couldn't tell who was going and coming. I didn't even notice Alex had slipped through the window behind my bed until he stood right in front of me. I asked where he'd been and he said that he was making arrangements. He told me that he couldn't take it anymore and he was leaving. He said he was going to pack a bag and then he'd be gone. But as he said that I remember hearing another voice in the house. I didn't know who it was at the time. Alex looked up briefly and then looked back at me. He told me that he was going in 10 minutes. Then we heard the front door opening and my mother screaming, she was begging someone to come back, I thought it was my dad," Sara paused for a second, it'd been a long time since she's spoken about this to anyone, "but I could still hear a man's voice. Alex went to his room and 10 minutes later came back. He kissed me on the forehead and left. I thought he'd gone, but then I heard screaming, and shouting, I went to the top of the stairs. My mother was sitting in an armchair with a knife in her hand. My dad….well… a body was on the floor. His head and shoulders hidden by the armchair. Alex ran up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. He told me that the problems would go away and that it would get better. Then he left. He just ran out of the door and left me standing at the top of the stairs with transferred blood on my arms. I just sat there waiting for something to happen. I didn't cry, I didn't go to find a neighbour. My mother was still sitting there with that knife in her hand. She was talking to herself and I didn't want to go near her. So I just sat there."

Sara stopped talking.

"Do you want a few minutes?" Nick said concerned.

"What?" she refocused, "no. I'm fine. So eventually someone must have called the police because there were paramedics and police officers and a social worker. They took me to my room and told me to put some clothes into a bag and then took me away. I could see his body on the way out. My mother screaming again as the forced her into handcuffs. There's nothing else I can tell you really."

Detective Mason went to speak but Nick cut in, he knew Sara probably disliked him, "Ok, you didn't see the bodies face?"

"No, I didn't, who identified it?"

"It says that a James Sidle did."

"Do you have a photograph of James or my father from then? They'd have identified him when he confirmed who the body was?" Sara asked sitting up.

"They didn't, no,"

"Oh,"

"And do you remember your uncle being around much before this?"

"I know that my father owed him a lot of money, and we saw him about 3 times a year, he'd bring me presents and then make us watch while he hit my dad."

"And did you resent your dad?" the Detective asked. Nick spun his head around, not liking the question or the direction the conversation could be heading.

"Why is that relevant?" Sara almost spat.

"It's just a question, I'm trying to paint a picture of your reaction," he sat back with a smirk on his face, "you know, I looked at the crime scene photos, and to me it seems like you could have seen who was on the floor from the top of the stairs where you say you were?"

Sara opened her mouth to speak but Nick jumped in, "she's not a suspect, Detective."

"Well, it seems like there are some convenient details left out, and I just want to find out what happened, bodies don't get switched, some people knew what was going on," the Detective's face had shifted as he sat forward again.

"Where did your brother go?" Nick changed the subject.

"I was taken into care, to a foster home, and he was 16, back then that meant you were free to do what you want, and he hadn't been registered at a school for 2 years by then, so he had no one to chase him down," she sighed.

"Have you been in contact at all? He was downstairs when the stabbing occurred," the Detective probed once again.

"He came to see me twice when I was in care, once when I was 10, then when I was 13," she seemed to talk about this less easily than her parents, "And once in college I got a letter from him. It didn't say much, just that he was ok, living with a girl and he hoped I was doing alright. He didn't know I was in Harvard so sent the letter to my last set of foster parents. They forwarded it. The reply address was a post office box in L.A."

"Did you reply?"

"Yes, and every time I've moved house I've sent a letter to PO box saying where I was living, I never got a reply, I still send them," she looked up at the clock.

"Ok, well, I can assure you Mrs Grissom that I will be wanting to talk to you some more," the Detective said and Sara just walked out.

Nick ran after her but arrived outside the room just as Grissom wrapped his arms around her and she said calmly into his chest, "take me home please,"

He nodded and breathed in her scent.


End file.
